Bacteriological analysis of water from yusmarg health resort of Kashmir valley

A study of aquatic bacteria along with some physical parameters like temperature and pH was carried out during the month of November and December 2010, in Yusmarg area of Kashmir valley at four sites differing from each other markedly in terms of biotic and abiotic factors, to assess the density and diversity of bacterial flora. During the study the bacterial flora showed variation in relation to the physical parameters. The colony count was maximum at Site IV Reservoir outlet (300) followed by Site III Reservoir Intlet (135), Site I Dudhganga (95) and site II Tank Area (75). The total bacterial population was maximum at Site IV Reservoir outlet (1.8×10⁵ in Nov and 1.2×10⁵ in Dec.) and minimum at Site II Tank Area during both the months (4.5×10⁴ in Nov and 3.0×10⁴ in Dec.). Among the strains of isolated bacteria 28% were Gram positive (GP) and 72% were gram negative (GN). Most dominant of the isolated strains 60% were Cocci followed by 24% bacilli, 12% Diplococci (DC), and 4% Streptococci (SC). It was also found that 12% of strains were Gram Positive Cocci (GPC), 48% were Gram Negative Cocci (GNC), 8% were Gram Negative Bacilli (GNB), 16% were Gram Positive Bacilli (GPB), 12% were Gram Negative Diplococci (GND) and 4% were Gram Negative Streptococci (GNS).